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Africa Creates: Shinde – The Mercedes of Cinderellas

Sitting in Java House Westgate (before it was destroyed by terrorists) and chatting over tea, I would never have guessed that my guest was ever shy. But that’s what Shinde claims. Her love for music drove her to seek out opportunities to overcome her shyness, and it worked!

By the time she was 12 years old, she knew she wanted to be a singer above all else (possibly influenced by watching the movie The Sound of Music repeatedly). Her education in interior design and her current job in marketing haven’t in any way distracted her from this burning desire.

The deal was synched when she saw Whitney Houston’s performance in another movie, The Bodyguard. She became known as “that girl who sings like Whitney Houston”. But Shinde knew she would have to overcome her extreme shyness: even when singing in front of a few friends, she would cover her head with a scarf! So what was her plan? She signed up to participate in a play being staged by a local theatre company, Phoenix Players. To her horror, she was given the lead role as Cinderella. So much for being shy.

During one of the matinee shows for the Cinderella musical, the man playing the role of her father could not say Cinderella and so it came out as Shinderella. This may have been caused by one too many drinks before the show. The name stuck and was shortened to Shinde, which is Swahili slang for Mercedes (as in the car). The name stuck even during her stint with probably the most popular Kenyan girl group of the 2000s Tatuu.

Between the car and Cinderella, Shinde certainly has an interesting story! More interesting is her music, so hop on over and check it out – the interview ends with one of her beautiful songs. Her website has more: http://www.shinde.co.ke/

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Vered Ehsani (http://veredehsani.blogspot.com/) is a writer, an environmental consultant & a radio show host of Africa Creates.Africa Creates (http://africacreates.net) is an online radio show that provides a platform for African writers, musicians, filmmakers & other artists to be heard & promoted both locally & internationally.